ITC to extend antidumping measures on tubular goods

By the OGJ Online Staff

HOUSTON, June 19 -- The US International Trade Commission has agreed to extend antidumping duties due or countervailing duty orders on oil country tubular goods (OCTG), other than drill pipe, from Argentina, Italy, Japan, South Korea, and Mexico.

It has agreed to revoke antidumping orders on imports of drill pipe from Argentina and Mexico.

The decision was taken at the end of 5-year, "sunset," reviews of existing duties imposed on those goods.

Those reviews are required under the Uruguay Round Agreements Act. The act requires the Department of Commerce to revoke an antidumping or countervailing duty order, or terminate a suspension agreement, after 5 years unless the Department of Commerce and the ITC determine that revoking the order or terminating the suspension agreement would be likely to lead to continuation or recurrence of dumping or subsidies and of material injury within a reasonably foreseeable time.

NS Group Inc., Newport, Ky., a producer of seamless and welded tubular products serving the energy industry, applauded the decision.

"This is good news for NS Group and domestic producers. Reinforcing these duties will continue to restrict the amount of unfairly traded OCTG products that enter the US, a decision that is critical in helping to strengthen the domestic OCTG marketplace," said René Robichaud, president and CEO of NS Group.

Robichaud said he hopes the ITC investigation recently requested by President George W. Bush will provide a remedy for "surges" of OCTG imports from countries other than Argentina, Italy, Japan, South Korea, and Mexico.

The investigation would seek to determine if steel imports pose a threat to domestic producers. The full report will be available in the middle of July.